Night Sky
by TheSeventhElement
Summary: Belle has known Zim since the fifth grade.  What happens when things start to change between the two? I changed the rating to T... Might change again though. :P I don't own Invader Zim, just Belle.
1. Chapter 1: Friendship Blossoms

Chapter One: Friendshp Blossoms

Belle sighed and flopped onto her fluffy purple comforter. Her blonde and black hair went flying out around her head in a poofy mess. She stretched out on her large bed, thinking about her day at Skool. Zim was acting pretty weird around her lately. She wondered if she'd done something to upset him. He would act really jumpy when she talked to him, and sometimes he would cut their conversation short, seeming as if he was in a rush all the time.

Belle sighed again, putting her headphones in and turning her iPod on. Zim was all that she could think about lately. She'd known him ever since she was a little girl. They'd met in the fifth grade. She could remember it like it was yesterday...

-FLASHBACK-

"Dib, you're acting stupid," Belle said, clutching her science book close to her. Somehow, her best friend Dib was convinced that the new boy, Zim, was some type of alien being.

"I'm telling you, he's not normal! I offered him a bottle of water at lunch today, and he acted like it was poisoned or something!" Dib exclaimed, getting frustrated.

Belle looked him in the eye. "Look, he might not exactly be 'normal,' but that doesn't mean he's an alien. Maybe he's just a little different. Seriously Dib, listen to yourself."

He gave her an exasperated look. "Belle. His skin is green. How do you explain that one, huh?" She just looked down at her feet, her long blonde hair hiding her face. "I've got to get to class, Belle. I'll talk to you later." With that he turned and walked down the hall. Belle sighed and headed for science.

When she got there, she found that the new boy was sitting in the usually empty seat next to hers. She sighed and took her seat, getting her notebook from her backpack.

Zim turned to her. "Hello, human girl. I understand your name is Belle, yes?"

Belle snapped her head up and looked at him with wide eyes, startled. She hadn't realized he was so outgoing. Realizing she was staring, she blinked a few times and replied. "Yes, I'm Belle. You're Zim, right?"

He smiled slightly. "So you have heard of Zim? How wonderful. I am sure that all of the students are talking about me already."

Belle laughed a bit and said, "Yeah, my friend told me earlier that there was a new kid in town. It's a bit ridiculous, but he uh... he thinks you're an alien." She laughed again at the thought of an alien living in her neighborhood.

Zim recoiled at that statement and looked quite horrified. "A WHAT?"

Belle looked down nervously, afraid she had offended the new boy. "Um, yeah. He said that he offered you some water at lunch which you denied... and that you have green skin... but there's probably some kind of medical condition that can explain that... right?"

He laughed uneasily. "Yes... a medical condition... ha, yes. That is why Zim has green skin and didn't accept Dib-thing's water... haha..." The look in his eyes was very strange. Almost... suspicious.

Then Ms. Bitters cleared her throat and began class, ending the conversation for them. Belle was beginning to wonder if maybe, Dib was right.

Later that day, Belle saw Dib in the hallway. She practically ran over to him, yelling, "DIB! DIB! DIB! OH MY GOD, DIB! YOU WERE RIGHT!"

Dib was quite startled, and since he hadn't seen Zim since the first class of the day, he'd practically forgotten about him. "About what?"

Belle looked at him strangely. "Um, about Zim, duh?"

"Who's Zi- OH! Yeah, the alien. I told you!" he said, glaring at her.

"Yes, I know. You were right and I was wrong. Go ahead and rub it in. But the important thing we need to figure out is why he's on Earth. What if he's here to take over?" Belle was starting to panic and hyperventilate.

Dib took hold of her shoulders. "Woah woah woah... woah. Calm down there turbo. We'll figure it out after school. Right now, we need to finish out the day. Alright?"

Belle began to calm down a bit. "Ok... BUT, promise me that we'll get to it RIGHT AFTER SCHOOL."

"I promise, B. Right after school."

As Belle sat in her English class, the last class of the day, she watched the clock intensely. She was leaning forward, counting down the seconds until the final bell.

15...

14...

13...

12...

She couldn't wait to spy on Zim and find out what he was up to. Why was he here, in this small town, of all places?

11...

10...

9...

_God! Hurry up already! Zim could be plotting to overtake Earth at this very moment!_

8...

7...

6...

5...

4...

_I think time is slowing down just because I'm in a hurry. The seconds feel like hours!_

3...

2...

1...

**BRRRRINGGGGG!**

Belle jumped up from her seat and took off as soon as she heard the ring of the final bell. She found Dib outside, looking at his watch nervously.

"There you are!" he exclaimed, pulling on her arm. "What took you so long? I feel like I've been waiting here for hours!"

Belle just smirked at him. "And I thought I was the one who was supposed to calm down..."

"Shut up, B! We gotta find Zim."

-30 MINUTES LATER-

"Belle, what can you see?" Dib could barely talk. Belle was sitting on his shoulders, peering through one of Zim's windows.

"Hmm... Nothing much really. Just Zim's poorly-disguised dog running around like a maniac. Who knows what that thing truly is..."

Dib grunted. "Can you hear anything?"

Belle pressed her ear to the window. She could hear someone talking, but couldn't make out what they were saying due to Dib's mindless alien babble.

"Dude, shut up! I can't hear!"

Thankfully, he obliged and became silent. She pressed her ear harder to the window. She heard Zim's voice.

"GIR! What are you doing? We've got work to do!"

The little dog, apparently named Gir, squealed with delight. "WHEEEE!" Then, much to Belle's amazement, the dog sprung rockets from its feet and took off into the air, shedding its dog suit to reveal a small gray and cyan robot. He went flying haphazardly in loops and dives.

Zim came into view, only he didn't look the same way that he had at school. Instead of his black hair, he had antennas. His gray eyes were now entirely a cherry-red color, whites and all. Belle gasped at the sight.

"What, Belle? What's going on?" Dib questioned, obviously worried.

"I's Zim! He IS an alien! His eyes are completely red and he's got antennas coming out of his head!"

Dib gasped and fell over, bringing Belle down with him. They toppled onto the grass, landing with a dull thud.

Zim, hearing the commotion, ran outside to see what was going on. When he saw Dib and Belle laying in the grass right below one of his windows, he knew what was up.

He pointed his laser gun at them. "You two. You were spying on me." The way he said it wasn't questioning, he was stating a fact he knew for sure. "You know what I am."

Dib got up from the ground. "Oh yes Zim, we know what you are! You're an alien, and you've come to take over Earth!"

Zim laughed manically. "Yes, Dib-human. Your big head actually holds a brain!" He laughed again. "What about you, Earth girl?"

Belle calmly stood up, dusted herself off, and said, "Personally, I think Dib is overreacting."

Zim's jaw dropped and Dib gasped at her, looking horrified. "From what I can see, you're not exactly great at the whole 'taking over the Earth' thing. And if you're not a threat, I think it would be cool to have an alien for a friend."

"B, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" Dib yelled, shaking her shoulders. "He's an alien! Why would you want to be friends with an alien?"

Belle shoved him off, growing irritated with him. "Look Dib," she whispered, "I don't honestly know. I just trust him. For some reason... I just do."

He just stared at her in disbelief. "Are you nuts?" he whispered back, "I bet he'd kill you in a heartbeat!"

Belle didn't know why her next sentence came to her lips, but it felt right. "No he won't. Zim won't hurt me."

"Fine, Belle. Do whatever you want. When you're all alone and physically and/or emotionally injured, don't come crying to me."

With that, Dib went storming past Zim and down the sidewalk towards his house. Belle felt like she could cry. By now, Zim was just standing there, completely and utterly confused. When Belle dropped to the ground and put her head in her hands, he didn't know what to do.

Belle began to cry. "Human, why is water coming from your eyes?"

"It's called crying. People do it when they're sad or upset."

Zim was beginning to worry about this girl. Why, he wasn't sure, but he didn't like her being upset. "What has upset you, Belle?"

She jumped at his calling her by her name, not "human" or "Earth girl." She looked over at him. "Dib was my best friend."

"Well, now that it seems he is angry with you, may I be your best friend?" Zim asked, looking at her hopefully.

Belle smiled. "Of course you can, Zim."

-END FLASHBACK-

Belle smiled at the memory. Zim was wonderful. She wasn't quite sure what had gotten into her that fateful day, but she was glad it happened. She and Zim had grown to be very close in the years he'd been on Earth. He knew everything about her, from her favorite color to her deepest darkest secrets.

Belle hadn't spoken to Dib since the day they met Zim. She thought it quite sad that he'd torn apart their friendship, but Dib hadn't been near as good a friend to her as Zim had. You would think that a human would be better at friendship than an alien, but when it came to Dib and talking to people, he was like a fish out of water.

The thing that was currently puzzling Belle, however, was the way Zim was acting. It was very abnormal for him to avoid her, but lately she got the feeling that he was doing just that. It had her very worried, and as she thought about her dilemma, she slowly drifted to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2: Visions

**A/N: After suffering a severe case of writer's block and a huge dose of life's bullshit, I'm finally getting back to this story. Sorry for the painfully long wait. (:**

Belle woke up in the morning to the sound of her alarm clock buzzing loudly from her bedside table. She groaned, smacking the snooze button harshly, sending the alarm clock flying off the table and crashing to the floor. Groaning again, she sat up in her bed and picked up her clock. She stared at the numbers slowly coming into focus as the haziness of sleep left her eyes. 7:30.

The teenage girl sprung up from her bed and grabbed some clothes from her closet without really looking, stumbling quickly out of her room and down the hall into the bathroom. She got dressed in what turned out to be a Wiz Khalifa T-shirt and some jeans hurriedly. She brushed her hair out carelessly and pulled it up into a messy pony tail. _Oh well, _she thought, _the sloppy look is in now._

She rushed down the stairs, grabbing her bookbag and lunch box from a kitchen chair, throwing on her old Converse sneakers, and saying a quick good-bye to her mother on the way out.

"Dammit!" she cursed as she caught a glimpse of the tail end of her bus heading down the road. She chased it down the road a little ways, trying to signal the driver, but it was no use. She would have to walk to skool.

Belle always dreaded walking to skool.

Why?

She always ended up running into Zim, and ever since he started acting awkward around her, their time together was... well, awkward.

Walking dejectedly to the sidewalk from her spot in the middle of the road, Belle sighed and kicked some little stones in her path. She wondered why he was behaving so strangely.

The truth of it was, that all she really wanted was to talk to him again. Without him, she was just a friendless nerd. She sat alone at her lunch table, looking sad and pathetic, and she was even more of a target of bullies and teasing.

_Stupid Zim and his dumb..._

Her thought went unfinished as she spotted Zim himself, walking leisurely ahead of her, in the same direction. She could see that he was dressed in his usual dark pink space getup, and his black boots. A while ago, he had changed his wig from a weird spiky-type style to what would be called an "emo" haircut. Belle thought that it looked a lot better that way._ Maybe I can just talk to him about it..._

She ran to catch up with him, calling his name.

"Zim! Hey, Zim! Wait up!"

He stopped and tensed at the sound of her voice, and then proceeded to run down the sidewalk as fast as he could, not looking back.

"Hey! Stop! I just wanna talk!"

She picked up her pace, and being a track runner, she caught up quite easily.

"Zim!" she called one last time, reaching out and grabbing his shoulder and turning him around.

But when she saw his face, she got a searing pain in her head. It was almost like a migraine, but the pain was concentrated toward her temples.

Closing her eyes, she dropped to the ground, the pain becoming too intense for her to stand. She groaned out in pain. "My head... feels like... it's gonna... explode..." she managed to mutter before passing out.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Belle slowly awakened, groaning when the ache in her head made itself known. She slowly became aware of her surroundings, realizing that she was in Zim's living room, lying on the floor. The TV was on, displaying one of Gir's crazy monkey shows. She slowly stood up, glancing around the room.

_What's going on? Why am I here?_

Then, Zim came out of the kitchen with a carton of chocolate ice cream and a spoon in his mouth. He was dressed in what he always wore, but he looked a little bit older, taller. He looked almost as tall as his leaders, the Almighty Tallest.

"Uh, Zim? Why am I in your living room?" she questioned, nothing really making sense to her.

He seemed to not have heard her, or decided to ignore her. He continued to eat his ice cream, acting as if Belle had never spoken.

"Hellohhhh? Zim?"

The doorbell rang, and Zim set his ice cream aside, walking toward the door which lay behind Belle. He was walking straight toward her, and it didn't look like he'd be stopping.

"Woah!" she cried out, closing her eyes and shielding her body with her arms.

But she never felt anything. No crashing into Zim, no being pushed out of the way, nothing.

_Huh?_

She opened her eyes, turning her head around, confused. Zim now stood at the door, and was currently opening it.

_He... he walked THROUGH me? How can that happen?_

Belle turned around fully to face Zim and his new house guest.

"Hello, hello! Welcome!" he said, inviting them in.

When the mysterious guest stepped into the house and the dim light from the living room hit them, Belle was thoroughly shocked. The girl that had just came into Zim's house looked to be an older version of... herself?

She had long blonde hair, which was elegantly flowing down her back. Her deep blue eyes locked onto Zim, watching him with a... flirty expression? Her lips were turned up into a small smile. The outfit she wore was similar to what Belle was wearing now – a band T-shirt and some jeans. However, she wore tighter jeans, and a more fitting shirt, showing off her form, but only a little.

Gasping, Belle stumbled backwards a few feet before losing her balance and falling onto the floor with a thud.

The older Belle didn't seem to notice her either. She instead spoke to Zim.

"Good to see you. It feels like it's been forever."

Zim just chuckled. "We did this last weekend."

She put on a pouty face. "I know, but... I like seeing you. And I only do once a week."

"Belle darling, you know that I have responsibilities back on Irk that I need to take care of. It's hard for me to fit time in."

"Heh, yeah... You know, I'm kind of sad you outgrew your incompetent stage. I quite liked you that way. We had more time together," the older Belle said with a chuckle, poking Zim's cheek.

"Hey now, I was shorter then too!"

Belle laughed out loud at that. "I know."

"You want some ice cream?"

Older Belle's face lit up. "Yes, please!"

Chuckling, Zim went to where he had left the ice cream, Belle following close behind. He picked up the spoon from inside the bin and used it to scoop a spoonful out.

He set the carton on the coffee table and turned around to face the older Belle, smirking. "Here," he said, wrapping his free arm around her waist and pulling her close while directing the spoon to her mouth with the other.

She opened her mouth wide, letting herself be fed. It turned out to be a bit too big of a bite, and some of the melted ice cream dribbled out of her mouth.

Zim chuckled. "Heh, you gotta little..." he said, pointing to her face. She gave him a confused look. "Never mind, I'll get it."

He leaned in close to her before pressing his lips to hers tenderly.

Belle just stared in shock at her older self and her best friend.

They kissed for a few seconds before the older Belle pulled away and put her head on his shoulder and whispered almost so that Belle couldn't hear, "I love you, Zim."

Zim smiled and rested his head on hers.

"And I love you, Belle."

Belle's vision started to fade. It was like she was passing out again.

"Wait... No, what's happening? … Zim?"

Her vision faded to black, and she collapsed, falling into unconsciousness yet again.

**A/N: Well, that was quite... interesting. It turned out differently than I thought it would. Oh well, I hope you enjoy anyways. I'll be updating more often now. Again, sorry for the wait!**


	3. Chapter 3: Stupid Humans

Belle's hearing was the first sense to return. She heard Zim's voice.

"Belle? Are you okay?"

She opened her eyes hesitantly, hoping that she was gone from that crazy world she'd been taken to. Zim was leaning over her, his worried face inspecting her closely.

"Yeah, I think so," she replied, finding her voice hoarse.

Zim sighed with relief. "Good, I had thought you had been injured."

Suddenly, Belle realized something.

"Hey, haven't you been ignoring me?"

Zim froze on the spot. His gray eyes darted around, looking at everything but Belle. "Um, well... That is, I..."

Belle just shot him a grin. "That's okay, no need to explain. I'm just glad we're talking again." The thing about Belle was that she forgave too easily. She never needed an explanation to totally trust someone again. She would probably even forgive Dib if he ever wanted to be her friend again.

She tried to rise to her feet, but when she put weight on her legs, she fell forward awkwardly onto Zim.

"Heh, sorry. Guess I don't have my balance back yet."

Zim smiled brightly at her. "That is quite alright, Belle." He picked her up, throwing her over his shoulder.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" Belle tried to sound threatening, but she started giggling, which made her sound much less menacing.

"I am taking you home. You need to rest," Zim replied simply, as if it was a normal thing to pick up your best friend and casually throw her over your shoulder against her will. Belle was used to the crazy things he did, though. He was an alien, after all.

When they got back to Belle's house, her mother poked her head into the foyer from the kitchen. "What's going on, Zim? Is there a reason you're carrying my daughter like that?"

"She fainted on the walk to school. I thought she might want to stay home today, just to be safe," he informed her.

"Oh, alright then." She gave him a warm smile. "I'm glad you two are talking again."

He smiled back. "As am I, Mrs. Conner."

"You can just put her on the couch in the living room."

"Okay."

Zim walked into the living room and lay down a smiling Belle. "I'm glad we're talking again too, Zim," she admitted shyly, looking down. Before he could say anything back she realized something. She looked at Zim. "Hey, you better get going to skool if you wanna be on time."

"Right. I better get going. I will stop by later to check on you, okay?"

Belle blushed but didn't look away. "Okay."

He smiled before walking out of the living room and out the front door. Belle sighed. What was this weird feeling she had, watching him leave like that? She felt almost sad to see him go. She quickly wrote it off as missing a friend she hadn't talked to in so long and she fell asleep a few minutes later, thinking still about that weird feeling...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Zim ran most of the way to school. He couldn't afford to be late again. Mrs. Bitters had been quite angry last time he showed up late, and he REALLY didn't want to have to suffer through detention with her again.

As he ran, he tried to think up and excuse for why he'd been ignoring Belle most of that school year. They were currently in the tenth grade, and since they'd been best friends since fifth, she'd found it strange when he suddenly stopped talking to her after last summer ended.

The real reason he'd been ignoring her was frightening for him to think about, which was why he'd started ignoring her in the first place. He thought that he might be falling in love with the human.

It'd all started last summer when they were at the park. They were having a good time – swinging on the swings like they were five years old and laughing about random things. That is, until a boy from skool showed up. His name was Terrance. He was the biggest bully at the skool, and his main target was Belle. He seemed to think that the way she acted, talked, dressed, EVERYTHING about her was different. And to him, different was a bad thing.

He walked up to the swing set, where she and Zim were sitting and just talking, and started teasing her. He said that the band on the shirt she was currently wearing – My Chemical Romance – was terrible and that she was stupid for liking them.

He went on and on about everything else he thought was wrong about her until Zim, who had been seething since Terrance started talking, finally snapped and stood up. He wasn't even sure what he was doing himself, much less were Terrance and a crying Belle.

Terrance stopped talking and looked at him. Zim just stood there for a few seconds, clenching his fists and glaring at Terrance. "Leave," he finally said angrily through his teeth.

Smirking, Terrance asked, "Or what? You'll sic your retarded dog on me?" pointing over at Gir, who was randomly running around and around a tree.

Zim let out a loud growling noise and tried to control his temper. "I will not be responsible for what happens if you continue to insult Belle." He didn't even know where all of this was coming from. He just knew that he did NOT like this puny human insulting his best friend.

Terrance laughed out loud. "Don't tell me you'd even think about taking me on. I'd crush you like a bug."

Growling again, Zim raised his left arm and pressed a button on his black glove. What looked like a laser pointer raised from a compartment in the glove. It was attached to a long metal arm, which extended out of the glove and pointed the laser at Terrance's feet. A little red dot appeared in between his shoes.

Suddenly, a buzzing noise was heard and Terrance's eyes widened slightly before the laser let out a loud boom and the point where it had been aimed at exploded, making Terrance scream and jump back. Still screaming, he ran from Zim and Belle, explosions going off at his feet as he went. Zim kept setting off the laser until he was down the road, out of sight.

All summer, when Terrance would bother Belle, Zim would get insanely angry and chase him off. He couldn't explain why he got so angry when he insulted her. He couldn't accept the fact that he was falling for her, so he thought that maybe the feeling would go away if he ignored her.

It didn't. It only got worse. The longer he went without talking to her, the more he longed to be with her. When she'd fainted on the sidewalk, he figured that maybe it would pass on its own, even if he did talk to her. All he knew was that he couldn't continue to ignore his best friend. It was hurting them both.

He was glad that she forgave him so easily and that they could go back to the way it was before. Zim smiled to himself as he opened the door to Miss Bitter's room and walked in as the bell was ringing.

"LATE!" she hissed, pointing a crooked finger at him. "Detention, today after skool."

He heard Dib snicker as he took his seat beside him in the front of the room. Zim rolled his eyes.

"Stupid humans," he muttered.


End file.
